Dark Horse Candidates
Padres right-hander Michael King is coming off a superb 2024 season in which he pitched to a 2.95 ERA in 173.2 innings with a strong 27.7% strikeout rate. King is another reliever-to-starter conversion success story and could be in line for a massive payday if he can repeat that season.
Phillies left-hander Ranger Suarez is a good innings-eater in the middle of their rotation but has never exceeded 155.1 innings in his career. He's averaging more innings per start nowadays; it's just a matter of being healthy enough to make 30-plus starts for the first time of his career. He's shaping up to get a similar deal to what Eduardo Rodriguez got from the Diamondbacks last winter (four-years, $80 million), although getting an extra year tacked on could put him over the century mark.
Freddy Peralta is young enough where a big 2025 could drastically affect his free agent outlook. Since the start of the 2021 season, he's been a reliable workhorse starter with good run prevention . His home run rate has spiked in the last two years, which is a somewhat troublesome trend for a fly ball pitcher, but he'll also hit the free agent market before his 30th birthday. A team bullish on his run prevention could be willing to offer at least a five-year deal.
Devin Williams will be the top free agent reliever on the market if the Yankees cannot extend him. He'll be gunning to get a contract in a similar ballpark to what Josh Hader ($95 million) or Edwin Diaz ($102 million) got in their trips in free agency. If he can put together another strong season in New York, he'll have equally as strong a track record as those two closers.